


Ghost Remix

by mochi_on_the_moon



Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: Alternative Canon to Evolution, Canon-Typical Violence, Friendship, Gen, Infiltration, Mystery, Personal Growth, Post Season 4, Rescue Missions, Romance isn't really the focus, Some depiction of trauma/PTSD (because William and Aelita), Spoilers for Seasons 1 - 4, Teen Angst, They can never just have a normal school year, Unfinished, unrealistic hacking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-28 21:04:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21143186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mochi_on_the_moon/pseuds/mochi_on_the_moon
Summary: With X.A.N.A. erased and the supercomputer safely shut down, the Lyoko Warriors anticipate a quiet school year for once.But after summer vacation, Jeremie suddenly cuts off all contact from his friends and disappears. Strangers start lurking around the school. And there’s something weird about the new VR game Odd’s gotten addicted to.In danger from an unknown threat and unable to rely on Jeremie’s schemes, Aelita may have to evolve to survive.





	Ghost Remix

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! This is my first time posting a fanfic. Thanks for giving it a try and feel free to leave feedback!
> 
> I loved Code Lyoko but was a bit disappointed with Evolutions, so I originally envisioned this story as a movie that takes place after the animated series or as an alternative Season 5. It's not all written yet, and posting may not be super regular, but I do know how it ends. :)

In a strange, shifting world like the inside of a blue puzzle box, Aelita ran on a path that kept reshaping itself under her feet.

“Remember,” Jeremie’s voice distantly came to them, slightly distorted. “You have three minutes to find the key. Hurry!”

She could feel the tension from her friends in the air like electricity.

Yumi was the first to fall. One moment she was running behind Aelita, and then Aelita couldn’t hear her her footsteps anymore. She turned around to see Yumi crumbling into tiny pixels and blowing apart. William pulled a sword out of her disappearing back and turned a smirk on Aelita, before disappearing in black smoke.

Aelita had barely time to shout in dismay before William reappeared in a new puff of smoke and cut down Ulrich and Odd just as quickly. Aelita’s stomach flipped with dread. All alone in Sector 5…. Except for the flying monsters and a possessed classmate.

As William approached, she scrambled back, but he just walked casually by. “You’re not worth my time,” he said.

_Time!?_

“How much time do we have left?” she asked the air, starting to run again. Jeremie would hear her.

She heard a violent clatter, then Jeremie groaning out in pain. “Aelita! H-hurry! You have to find the key, before... agh!!!…”

Since only one door opened in the ever shifting walls, she took it. In the next room, a middle aged man with a beard watched her. His glasses reflected the blue ambient light, making his expression nearly impossible to read.

“Dad?” she cried. “You’re alive? I thought--”

The man shook his head. “I gave you the Keys to Lyoko. But you didn’t save me.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry, I-- I didn’t know how…”

“At this rate, you’re going to lose everyone,” observed the ghost of her father.

And then she realized she could hear a distant rasping, squeaking sound…. and knew that someone was choking Jeremie to death. She wished that was a sound she didn’t recognize so easily. If fury was all that it took to use the Keys to Lyoko and destroy everything that harmed her friends, she would have mastered them long ago.

Then the ground gave way under her feet and she fell into space. She frantically waved a hand over her bracelet to activate the angel wings built into her suit, but there was no responding hum of energy.

\---

“NO!!” 

It took several gasping breaths before Aelita realized she was sitting up, her nightgown soaked through with sweat and her chest hammering so hard it hurt. 

“Mmmmph?” murmured a groggy voice nearby, and Yumi stuck her head over the edge of her bed to blink at Aelita, who was on the floor. “Aelita? ...You…. okay?” Her eyes were barely open and her silky black hair was a staticky floof. It would have been cute, but it was hard to appreciate your friend’s sleep-hair when your chest was still pounding with booming bass kicks that could intimidate a Roland TR-808. 

“Sorry, Yumi,” she whispered. “It’s nothing. Go back to sleep.”

Yumi mumbled something unintelligible and sank back down.

Aelita made herself lie back down too. She was on the very soft futon on Yumi’s bedroom floor.

_It’s fine,_ she told herself. _We won that war. XANA’s been destroyed, William’s no longer possessed, and Jeremie doesn’t get constant attempts on his life anymore._

Her father’s dream disappointment still echoed in her thoughts, and she curled up on her side. She grabbed Mr. Puck, the little elf doll by her pillow, and hugged him tight. D_ad wasn’t mad at me in real life. And…. even if he should have been... even if I’m kind of useless…. At least no one has to rely on me for anything serious right now._

The imaginary critic in her brain--who looked suspiciously like her classmate Sissi--pointed out that 14 was a little too old to be clinging to a doll, but Aelita tried to ignore this.

Breathing gradually got easier, but the dark shadows all around still felt unfriendly. They too easily morphed into monsters. Finally, she grabbed her cell phone from under her pillow and flipped it open, pulling up the blanket so the light wouldn’t bother Yumi.

Jeremie hadn’t sent her any new messages. And he hadn’t replied to any of the old messages she’d sent in the last few days. Normally she would try to brush it off. Jeremie was probably deep in some new project and forgetting to do human things like communicate and sleep… but right now, all she could think about were the sounds of his death in her dream, and how much she wanted to hug him.

She tapped out a message as quietly as possible.

_ Hey… you okay? You haven’t texted me back in days… it’s not cuz you’ve been strangled, right? _

She deleted that mess and tried again. 

_ I had another nightmare.... _

She erased that too. If she bothered him every time she had a nightmare, it could get real repetitive real fast.

_ So, how are you doing? Working on any interesting projects?  _

She sent that one. Jeremie’s lengthy rambles on his projects might be daunting to some, but to her they were comforting and familiar. She fell asleep trying to imagine one. 

\----

When she woke up in the morning, there were no new texts, but at least there was breakfast--she could smell it. 

She wandered out to the family table, where Yumi and her whole family were assembled. They were all early risers. Yumi always trained for at least an hour before breakfast, and she sported freshly showered hair. 

Aelita’s omurice, made by Yumi’s mother and set at Aelita’s place, had a smiling ketchup face on it and she couldn’t help smiling back at it. “Thanks, Mrs. Ishiyama. This is so cute!”

“Did you sleep well?” asked Mrs. Ishiyama. 

“Yes, thanks!” lied Aelita. She glanced guiltily at Yumi, but her friend didn’t contradict her. 

Mrs. Ishiyama nodded, and then returned to scanning the news. Aelita liked Yumi’s parents. They weren’t as warm and cozy as Jeremie’s, and sometimes there was a quiet tension in their house, but they were gracious hosts who had shown her around Tokyo, and they, like Yumi, had the introverted knack for giving you space. 

Yumi smiled across the table at Aelita and said, “Ulrich says they’ll meet us at 10:30.”

At that, Yumi’s little brother Hiroki focused on her sharply. “You’re going to see _Ulrich_ today, huh?” He weighted the name with significance.

Yumi folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. “Yeah. And Odd. They haven’t seen us since we got back from Japan, so we’re getting together before school starts back up. … What of it?”

“Oh, nothing,” said Hiroki, tossing a smirk to Aelita. Despite her loyalty to her friend, she couldn’t help smiling back, a little. 

A few minutes later, the girls walked to the park through the late summer sunshine. The air smelled sweet, like baking bread and warm grass. The park had a fair number of strolling people, but she could easily spot Odd and Ulrich from a distance. Mainly because Odd’s favorite color was fuschia and his improbably tall swoop of blond hair defied gravity in a way you didn’t normally see. 

Odd spotted them too, gave a shout, and started sprinting towards them. Aelita braced for impact, only to find herself grabbed and spun, whirling through the air in skinny but surprisingly strong arms. It was easy to forget that Odd, who was small in stature, had a wiry strength you wouldn’t expect. 

Ulrich approached at more of a shuffle. He seemed a little taller, despite his hunched posture. “Hey Princess,” he said. He didn’t go for a hug, but the warmth of his eyes and smile were almost like one. 

They turned at a squeal from Odd. He’d apparently just tried the picking-up-and-spinning-hug on Yumi, and this had ended with him in a headlock. He wailed in protest but in a giggly way that revealed he was actually pleased. “Ow! Ow! Why are you like this!? I was just greeting you after a long separation!”

“Was three months so long you stopped fearing me?” said Yumi. 

“I would never!” he said. “I want to liiiiiive~~”

She shoved him free, and he staggered a few steps, gasping exaggeratedly.

“Have you been practicing?” asked Ulrich. “That was a nice headlock.”

Yumi tossed her silky black hair. “Practicing? You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Oh, will I?” 

_ They’re flirting again. The question is, how soon will they realize they are flirting and get really awkward?  _

“So, uh, you guys want some soda?” Yumi suddenly blurted, holding up a clinking bag of drinks and snacks she’d brought back from Japan. She was pink in the cheeks.

_ Yeah, that didn’t take long. _

Soon they were settled on a park bench in the shade of an oak tree, its leaves rustling overhead. 

Odd said, “You’ll never believe how I spent this summer. I took a job as a mercenary!” 

Then, unfazed by the skeptical expressions he was met with, he launched into a story involving crimelords, robot ninjas, and a fight on top of a speeding train.

"And then I kicked a walrus right into the last ninja's face and he flew right off the train!" said Odd, waving the hand holding his soda for emphasis and sending an arc of sparkling of fizz right at Aelita’s face. 

She squeaked, dodged back, and lost her balance. She only was prevented from landing on the grass by Yumi’s lightning reflexes. Aelita clung to her rescuer for a moment after being hauled back up.

“That was adorable,” said Odd. “I wonder if I could do it again…” He mimed throwing his soda for Aelita’s face again.

“Stop being proud of yourself!” scolded Ulrich. “You nearly KO’d Aelita.”

"It's not my fault it's incredibly easy to KO Aelita!!" protested Odd.

Aelita felt her face grow hot. Her voice was only a squeak as she said, "Sorry. It’s, uh, my dress, I didn't want it to get stained with soda, because, it's new, and, and..." She actually had gotten the dress in Japan, and it had a pretty rose pattern. She was hoping Jeremie would get to see it… eventually. Even though he didn’t make it to this get-together. 

"You don't have to apologize to Odd," said Yumi, sounding mildly exasperated. “He’s a menace to society.”

"Sorry." The apology slipped out before Aelita could stop it, and she clapped her hands over her mouth too late. 

Yumi sighed and patted Aelita’s hair. The boys chuckled.

“So I assume you’ve been ranting to us about a new video game you’ve been playing,” said Yumi to Odd.

“Not just ANY video game!” protested Odd, pounding his fist on the table. “It’s a virtual reality game called Averian.”

Yumi quirked an eyebrow. “Oh? After Lyoko, isn’t it hard to appreciate the VR on the market?”

"No, you don’t understand!” cried Odd, excited. “This stuff is on another level… it’s ALMOST as good as Lyoko graphics. The flying simulation is so real. And you know… it's less likely to cause the end of the world… or whatever…." He waved a hand dismissively.

Ulrich sighed. "He's never going to shut up until you try it," he warned the girls. “He's talked about nothing else but 'Averian this, Averian that,' for the past month."

"Rude!" said Odd, not sounding offended. He reached out a hand to hassle Ulrich in some way, and Ulrich stopped him with a swift wrist grab. Odd didn't even flinch. "Ulrich expresses being my best friend in strange, contrary ways. No one made him visit me all summer, I'll point out."

"It was better than staying with my parents," grumped Ulrich. "Marginally."

"You see how he holds my hand?" Odd's eyebrows danced wildly, and Ulrich flung Odd's wrist back.

Odd chuckled and turned back to Aelita. "Your boyfriend was useless too." He straightened imaginary glasses and launched into a derpy impression of Jeremie's voice. "_If it's anything like Lyoko, why would *I* want to do it?_ I tried to tell him that it wasn't full virtualization, they just strap you to a chair. But for some reason he still didn't like the idea."

"Weird.” Aelita laughed. “You made it sound so appealing.” Technically, Jeremie wasn’t officially her boyfriend--they hadn’t spent a lot of time defining exactly what they were--but she wasn’t bothered by the word, either. 

"You'll play with me, won't you, Aelita?" pleaded Odd.

Unease twisted in the core of Aelita’s stomach. It would be weird to go into a new VR world. She’d think about Lyoko and her father the whole time …. 

But… when Odd fixed all his whole attention on you, his brown eyes strangely soulful, it really was hard to disappoint him. This, Aelita suspected, was how he had such a high success rate of asking girls out. That and the electric smile.

"Sure,” she said, and saw the electric smile spark.

"My real friend!" said Odd, racing around the table and slinging an arm around her shoulder. "Maybe next summer, _you_ should stay with me, and _Ulrich_ should go to Japan with Yumi."

A silence fell in which Yumi was lost in study of the shadows cast on the picnic table by the shifting branches overhead and Ulrich became fully absorbed with the soda in his hands.

Odd tugged at Aelita's sleeve. "Hey that reminds me! Come here, Aelita, I wanna tell you something." He linked an arm through Aelita’s and began marching her across the grassy field towards an unoccupied pavilion.

"What are you up to now?" Yumi called after them.

"Never you mind!" Odd called back.  When they were out of earshot from Yumi and Ulrich, he slowed. 

"What did you want to tell me?" asked Aelita, 

"Oh that," said Odd. He unhooked his arm. "It was just an excuse to let them talk."

Aelita peered over her shoulder at the pair under the oak tree.

"_No!_ Don't look at them!" hissed Odd, making Aelita jump. "Pretend to be interested in what I'm saying."

"That's a tough one," she quirked a teasing eyebrow.

"_Mean!_ How's this for interesting, then?-- This is finally going to be the year Ulrich finally gets his act together and asks Yumi out."

"Did he tell you that?" gasped Aelita.

"Ulrich? Tell me about his love life?" Odd scoffed. "Yeah, right after he gave me a hug and wept over the beauty of our friendship. ….But I saw his preparations. He bought a picnic basket and picnic blanket and hid them under his underwear in his bag! Why else would he be planning a secret picnic!"

"So..... you were rooting through his underwear...?" asked Aelita.

"What's with that tone! Of course I did. We're friends. I’ve looked through everything he owns. ….Wait, are you telling me you DIDN'T look through Yumi's underwear drawer when you stayed with her?"

Aelita felt her face scrunching up in confused dismay.

“No? Really? Weird. Hey, what about Jeremie?”

Her cheeks started heating. “What!? No! I’ve never looked through his underwear either!”

Odd grinned. “I actually meant, why isn’t he here?”

"Oh… that.” Aelita’s embarrassment at Odd’s questioning was replaced by a flipflopping feeling in her stomach. Without meeting his eyes, she shrugged. “I don't know. I invited him, but he... hasn't been answering my texts."

"What! Did you have a fight?" Odd cried.

“No!” Aelita’s reaction was more defensive than she’d meant it to be. “You know how he is. He might be deep in some new project again.”

"With you girls finally back from Japan? Not acceptable!" said Odd, whipping out and dialing his phone. He listened, face increasingly unimpressed. "Voicemail? Really?" He dialed again. "Hello, Mrs. Belpois! Where's Jeremie today? .... At school? ....Already? ...He didn't tell us _what_? ....It's okay, Mrs. Belpois, we'll go to Kadic and maybe he can explain in person--" This time the pause was long and Odd's brow knit as he listened. Finally, he thanked her and said goodbye, putting his phone away.

"What did she say?" Aelita asked.

"She said we won't see him at Kadic because that's not the school he's _going_ to this fall." Odd announced, with humorless smile.


End file.
